Breaststroke

Breaststroke (skill)

Definition: A stroke taught with extreme pauses and glides at first; once precise technique is mastered, remove pauses and glides. The kick pushes the hands forward; narrow the gap between the start of the kick pushing and the hands starting to travel forward.

Core cues:

1. 11. Eat. 11.
2. Go slow.
3. With breath
4. Eat & Breathe
5. Streamline, 11, Eat, 11. Stop.
6. Streamline, 11, Eat & Breathe, 11. Stop.
7. 11, pause. Eat, pause. 11 pause.
8. 11 Eat & Breath 11

Coach interpretation:

• 11. Eat. 11.: Start by standing on the deck and doing each movement exactly; go slow; repeat frequently.
• Eat & Breathe: Add a breath; change Eat to Eat & Breathe.
• Streamline, 11, Eat, 11. Stop.: Isolate the arms in the water; no kick.
• Streamline, 11, Eat & Breathe, 11. Stop.: Add the breath; no kick.
• 11, pause. Eat, pause. 11 pause.: Start with slow pauses between each movement.
• 11 Eat & Breath 11: Chip away at pauses as mastery improves.
• SL and just the arms (no kick): View from above while swimmer is in the water.
• The kick pushes the hands forward: Narrow the gap between the start of the kick pushing and the hands starting to travel forward.

Teaching strategy:

Start by standing on the deck and doing each movement exactly: 11. Eat. 11. Go slow. With breath. Repeat frequently. Add a breath. Change Eat to Eat & Breathe. Isolate the arms in the water; no kick: Streamline, 11, Eat, 11. Stop. Add the breath; no kick: Streamline, 11, Eat & Breathe, 11. Stop. Start with slow pauses between each movement. 11, pause. Eat, pause. 11 pause. 11 Eat & Breath 11. Chip away at pauses as mastery improves. SL and just the arms (no kick) viewing from above while swimmer is in the water. Extreme pauses and glides at first. Once precise technique mastered remove pauses and glides. The kick pushes the hands forward; narrow the gap between the start of the kick pushing and the hands starting to travel forward. Streamline into Position 11: Do a streamline and then pause for a few beats in Position 11. The streamline should have no kick. Skip the underwater breaststroke pullout until the arms and kick and timing are mastered.

Common errors and corrections:

• Pauses and glides remain after precise technique is mastered: Once precise technique mastered remove pauses and glides.
• Wide gap between the start of the kick pushing and the hands starting to travel forward: Narrow the gap between the start of the kick pushing and the hands starting to travel forward.
• Doing the underwater breaststroke pullout before the arms and kick and timing are mastered: Skip the underwater breaststroke pullout until the arms and kick and timing are mastered.

Progression:

Streamline into Position 11 comes before the underwater breaststroke pullout; skip the underwater breaststroke pullout until the arms and kick and timing are mastered. Begin with extreme pauses and glides at first; once precise technique mastered remove pauses and glides.

⚠ Language below was not found in the source — do not publish as-is. Most often this means the original sits inside a table or a multi-column layout that extraction could not read cleanly:

• “Do a streamline

and then pause for

a few beats in

Position 11.”

• “The streamline

should have no

kick.”

• “Skip the

underwater

breaststroke

pullout until the

arms and kick and

timing are

mastered.”